The present invention relates to energy absorbing vehicle bumper assemblies.
It is conventionally known to assemble a vehicle bumper which includes an impact beam and an energy absorbing medium which are covered by a fascia. With such an assembly the energy absorbing medium is secured to the impact beam prior to assembly to the vehicle. It is also known to incorporate the usual impact beam and energy absorber into one blow molded plastic part. However, such an assembly tends to be somewhat heavy and costly.
Conventional blow molded bumper beams generally incorporate a series of fastening studs which are molded into the plastic part to assist in assembly to the vehicle. It has been found however, that studs tend to be pulled out of the molded plastic part under an unacceptably low tensile load. Previous attempts to solve this problem have integrated a stud plate or stay into the molded beam to which the studs are welded. This stay however, adds undesirable weight and cost to the bumper beam assembly.
It is preferred that a bumper beam be fabricated such as to minimize costs and weight while performing acceptably when assembled to a vehicle.